SFU Library Radar

In addition to digitally storing the publishing output of Simon Fraser University's faculty and research staff, SFU Library has also undertaken a project to store all the corresponding research data as well - Research Data Repository. Like many academic institutions, SFU Library uses the Islandora Digital Repository Framework for this purpose. Islandora is built on a base of Drupal, Fedora, and Solr and like many Drupal-based applications is almost infinitely flexible.

By default, the display of data from the repository to a user is pretty generic, and lacks potentially useful information. My task was to formulate a new visual design and align it with the SFU Common Look and Feel.

Sample data was organized into collections using the Islandora Core Collection Solution Pack. My design adds additional information to every view. This helps a user evaluate their browsing and search results earlier than having to drill down to a specific object. At various level of display latest modification dates are shown, indicate the data's 'freshness'. Additionally, links to other related collections, counts of items within a collection and additional details about a specific object are all displayed in a clear and organized manner.